I have added some links to excellent U Tube videos of a 1970 Royal Enfield running and many videos of a 70 RE tear down. See the links on the main page. I’m sure you will find these a good guide for your Interceptor project.
Aug. 2010.
I just bought #1668 a rolling basket to add to the mix. It’s been 20 years waiting to get a Series II back in the stable.
The motor appears in good shape as it turns over easily. A closer inspection hopefully reveals the same.
The bike had been in the process of restoration ( many years ago and left as is) as many new parts are on this machine. Some of which include new valves, pistons +0.020, and rings. The cylinders have been honed and the heads assembled, sans the cross rings. The cross rings seal the combustion chamber in lieu of a head gasket No chance this would have run for long if it did start.
This is the Holy Grail of Royal Enfield’s as it is near the last of the production run. Which lasted until 1970.
The core of this bike is there and ready for restoration.
I mocked it up with parts that are on hand to see how they fit. Some adjustments will be made.
Here is the mock up April 2012
Initial tear down
I opened up the primary and noticed that one of the clutch tension screws was damaged at some point and welded. The inside of the outer primary cover has some visible scars from scraping.
I removed the stator and this picture shows the spacer and lock nut on the shaft.
The clutch being disassembled with the pressure plate off.
The upper half of the case is brighter due to someone painting the engine with aluminum paint to hide the dirt or make it appealing to a buyer.
The death wish of a rebuild. This is the pile of silicone that came from the engine. Someone with good intentions tried to rebuild 1668 and thanks god never quite made it to a running stage. If it did run it would’t have been for long.
You need to use an anaerobic sealant. It seals under pressure and can still be diluted by the oils if were to enter an oil galley.
The bearing on this side is a 6209 deep groove ball bearing. I will replace it with the same but with a seal to the outside. 6209DDUC3E. This bearing has seal on both sides. Remove the outside seal. C3 stands for clearances greater than normal.
The timing side bearing is an N209W
The splined washer which you can see in this picture is 0.185″ and is too thick for the clutch. I t was causing the clutch pressure plate to rub against the outer primary cover. A thinner one (0.075″) has been ordered from Hitchcocks in England
BELOW
This a shot of the heads before and after glass beading with #7 glass bead. CAREFUL TO WASH THE GLASS FROM ALL OF THE PORTS WITH SOAP AND WATER. USE A SMALL TOOTHBRUSH OR SOMETHING SIMILAR TO ENSURE THERE IS NO GLASS RESIDUE LEFT ON THE SURFACES.
The frame has to be spread ever so slightly to allow the swing arm removal. I use some thread all to do the job.
Below: A clear sign that someone has had this apart before. The transmission mounting block has been painted black. It should be clean metal like the cases.
Note: The 4 bolts that hold the transmission and engine cases together are the Royal Enfield Interceptors answer to unit construction. The pieces all fit together to make a strengthened unit. This will keep the primary from from flexing between the engine and transmission. Much like the late model HD engines have done. Just took them 40 plus years to figure it out.
The bike is completely disassembled, bead blasted and ready for powder coating. All of the black parts will be done soon.
The parts all lined up before powder coating.
A whole new look after powder coating and looking fast already.
Now just a few nuts and bolts, an engine, some money for parts and some time to assemble. Sounds easy enough.
I made the mistake of not removing the bushing before powder coating. Too much of a rush. I used a hack saw blade to cut them out and it took about 30 minutes to do.The old ones are in the centre of the swing arm.
The new ones are ready to be pressed in.
The new bushings are done. The frame, swing arm and rear section are coming together. New Hagons help make the whole project look good.
The tank has suffered some abuse by knees or being bumped by riders. Here are the before pictures and when the tank is done. I will post the completed pictures. Some dents will have to be repaired and one of the taps realigned.
The tank has been repaired and chromed as best to original as I can get with out spending more than it is worth to fix. The sides were bad and long story here about the chrome shop so I’ll leave it there.
I will set the ROYAL ENFIELD decals on each side later.
Here it is with the decals applied. Not original, but a good substitute.
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Here are Series I Interceptor engine cut away pictures from the Royal Enfield France rally
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My end goal will be to have a finished bike like this fine Interceptor below. Note the extras. The hand rail, oil cooler, skid plate and double acting front brake are all on this bike. I use this one as my guide.
I would like to hear from other Interceptor owners.
An interesting note is that the 69 Interceptor forks, tubes, fork legs and wheel are the exact fit as the 1966 G15 CSR listed below
Bobby Baum
After powder coating some of the parts, I assembled to see how they fit and check for parts that are missing. The core of the machine is there and a great motivator to continue. The handle bars are not correct and soon find replacements being mounted. This bike came from California and had some of the chopper age modifications done to it like the higher bars, tail piece cut off and fender moved.
The RE didn’t come with all of the parts polished, but they do have some nice pieces to bring alive on this machine.
Here is the initial mock up of the motor, transmission, center stand and primary case.
I upgraded the breather size to accommodate the mods made to the entire crankcase breathing system.
